Tigers, Athletics suspended in 7th inning; game will be resumed in Oakland

DETROIT -- The Detroit Tigers’ series finale against the Oakland Athletics began Sunday afternoon at Comerica Park. It will end in the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.

Sunday’s game was suspended due to rain in the bottom of the seventh inning with the Athletics leading 5-3.

It will be resumed prior to the teams’ scheduled game in Oakland on Sept. 6.

Player representatives from both teams had to sign off on the arrangement. This was the final day of Oakland’s only visit to Detroit all season, so making the Athletics return to Detroit to play a couple of innings wouldn’t have been practical.

The only other alternative was a rain delay well into the evening, which both teams also wanted to avoid.

Downtown Detroit managed to dodge the bad weather that was enveloping southeast Michigan for the first six-and-a-half innings on Sunday, but the rain finally arrived at 3:29 p.m.

Third base umpire and crew chief Mike Winters almost immediately signaled for the tarp. That may have been a miscalculation because the rain was light or barely noticeable for the next seven or eight minutes, which might been long enough to complete the seventh inning.

The Athletics players lingered on the field rather than go their clubhouse, disappointed that the game wasn’t being played.

Games are official after five innings, but since the A’s scored the go-ahead runs in the top of the seventh inning, the Tigers were entitled to play the bottom of the inning. If the A’s had gotten three quick outs before the heavy rain arrived, they could have left Detroit with a victory.

Instead, they’ll have to settle for winning the first three games of the series and try for an unconventional “sweep” on Sept. 6 when Detroit will be the “home team” on the West coast.